I must say, Norinco firearms are definitely not "crap." I also have a pair of their 1911A1 pistols that are 100% MIL-SPEC and also 100% reliable after many years and thousands of rounds. Eagerly awaiting the arrival of my new CQA!!!
i had bought the cqa with the paint used with a 14.5" barrel when i first got my license. never had a problem with it ever. decided to go with a longer barrel so i installed a 16". everything fit properly and its my go to work horse. its the only ar15 i own and i will probably never buy any other until mine blows up or i can afford a bushmaster non-restricted. i own many norincos. only cheesy one i ever had was the jw14. was very cheaply made. also own a t97, best inexpensive bullpup ever. i run mine so much it gets steamy hot and it just keep performing flawlessly.
Update of my experience with this rifle, was able to put on Magpul furniture without modification. Handguard was hard to get on but did not have to file it or anything. Used a commercial buttstock, changed the trigger guard. I used a UTG single point sling adapter with no issues, goes on without removing the buffer tube. My favorite mag is the IMI Defense .50 Beowulf. So very happy with it. I watched this review before buying my rifle so thanks to this channel for that.
Norinco ARs used to be made from 6061 aluminum instead of 7075. Furthermore, you cannot parkerize aluminum so it may very well have been spray painted.
I've had the same experiences with a 2011 vintage 10.5" CQA. Its been super reliable over thousands of rounds, it has taken almost every single after market part without issue and continues to run every trip to the range.
I want a patch that says "Should have bought Norinco" that I can point to whenever I see dudes at competitions experiencing malfunctions with their $2000 guns. My Norc never ever has issues.
Five years in and my Norinco has only had one issue. A bad batch of ammo had a rough ridge of brass flaring out where the bullet is crimped. The brass flared ridge snagged one of the locking lugs in the barrel and stopped the bolt carrier from going into battery. Quick rip on the charging handle cleared it. Love my rifle.
I started using the same Norinco 5.56 ammo a few months ago. I haven't had any issues thus far. I have even managed to convince my wife that by paying 35 cents a round versus 50+ cents, I am actually saving/making 15 cents every time that I pull the trigger! We will be able to afford that new washer and dryer in no time!
Just ordered my DA 556. Canada Ammo, $630 after taxes shipped to my door! Wasn't planning on buying one but since the rcmp decided to ban the classic green I thought it would be a good idea to add another rifle to my collection. And what better than a AR 15 variant. Thanks for the videos
You Sir...Are amazing. I have had My RPAL now for several years, but I wish you were my instructor. You are very engaging and intelligent. You're opinion on firearm laws and and guns is spot on. People like you help support the reputation of responsible gun owners in Canada. Mike....From Ontario Ps.Just got my VZ58 in the mail..Fantastic Rifle!
My first AR is a DA556, from Canadaammo made in 2013, come with ambi mag release and selector. The quality is awesome for the price! I got an malfunction, and that is caused by my(dumb)self mixed up the buffer from an airsoft gun, they look the same but weight different, and the bolt carrier was boucing back to not fully closed position (light primer strike). Swapped back the original buffer and it went bang every time. The AR is a fine reliable rifle, and the most common problem with malfunction was caused by the mags, magpul pmags are the best mags ever made. As for the accessories, this gun is so easy to work with, a ar wrench and 30 min of my time I completely free floated the barrel, no more delta front sight, complete monolithic flat top looking (I can't stand the gap between upper and handguard). The buffer tube is a commercial type.
Just for info sake, on my 10.5" the buffer tube was not mil-spec. . I.e. only "commercial" stocks would fit. Also, had issues fitting an AB Arms foregrip (it was extremely tight). The delta ring is also really "springy", it can't be pushed down by hand, I have to use a foregrip removal tool. I purchased it last year.
I've had the same set ups as Rod - a 14.5 all Norinco and a 10.5 upper, on an American (Armalite) lower that I built. I used a Midwest 2 piece free float rail on the 14.5, worked perfectly,very solid. The 10.5 was absolutely fantastic, if you can still get Norc uppers separately, this is a great way to go - the upper/lower fit was perfect!, zero movement and amazingly smooth feeding. Excellent accuracy for 10.5 too. It was nice enough that a gunsmith buddy talked me out of it in a moment of weakness.
These AR 15's are on sale for $600 including factory installed rails right now. However, a type 97 rifle is expected to be $850 in the future (non-restricted) and there's even a VZ 58 variant with integrated rails being promised. Tough choices ..... we need Rod's evaluation of the type 97 before prices go back up on the AR. By the way, your videos are very helpful and I was even the first viewer of one of them. Thanks.
Due to your reviews I have bought one here in South Africa. It is half the price of everything else and have only heard good reports from others who have them.
I've shot a few and they were flawless, and accurate. I own a Windham Weaponry WW-15 and the accuracy of the DA556 I shot is only slightly less accurate up to about 200m and perfectly enjoyable. Your rifles are not an anomaly, in terms of accuracy, they are very accurate and excellently engineered and manufactured. These rifles are less polished and aesthetically pleasing than the American or Canadian made rifles but the quality of manufacturing is similar, and an excellent buy.
I just got the 14.5" in the mail on monday. This is my first gun in the AR style lineup. I stripped and cleaned it on monday night and went to the range on tuesday. I had 2 issues.... 1. the bolt hung up on the mag which i think i can fix with a little bend and file. 2. i had a couple of misfires where there was no strike on the primer.... you answered that... i am pretty sure i was a little too aggressive with the lube being a new gun and all. thanks for the vid! ps. i picked mine up on marstar.com for $560. sweet deal on a good gun.
Thank you for sharing us your honest opinion. In my view, all guns original or replica will undergone tear and wear as the time goes by. So..... cleaning.... replacements will be needed to make it working again like you 1st bought from the store. Remember, whatever is man-made.... it has a shelf-live and not long-lasting. If it is, they won't be any dealers or business for the gun industry to supply spare parts. Don't you agree?
owned 3 Norinco, now have 2 one M305 and Cqa556, love both, and Im not unfamiliar with ar's. started my career on FN c1 and moved to C7's Im also not cheep. I do own other firearms like Sig, but I will say if I can save a dollar theres nothing wrong with Norinco. Just to bad there restricted. As far as extras, I just put a Tuf Force tactical quad rail for 30.00and it fits great, after market mags are also fine, even LAR mags work good.
I own one with 14" barrel and I love it. Have not had a single issue with it since day one. My buddy has the s&w version and likes mine as well. He actually sent me your link. Great gun without a huge price. I do recommend the 5.56 version over the .223
I miss the good ol days back when Norinco helped keep the prices down in the firearms market. President Bush, who I voted for, declared Norinco as persona non grata through executive order. So all these Norinco firearms you Canadians have access to really makes me jealous. They were kicked out of the country when they first started shipping 1911's, M1 Garands and M1A's. I remember my first Norinco SKS cost $69 brand new in the box and it came complete with a cleaning kit, oil bottle and sling. I love your videos by the way, keep them coming.
Don't be jealous. To get that gun I have to get a 'restricted firearms' license which needs to be renewed every 5 years. And the gun has to be registered. Can't legally shoot it anywhere but on a federally approved gun range. And you basically sign away your rights to privacy as cops can come search your house for 'inspection' any time they want without a warrant.
+Tango4N I know it's a hard thing but perhaps it's time you become a US citizen and move to Arizona, the freest pro gun conservative red state in the country. I take it that you are Canadian? I think it's almost impossible to expand gun freedoms as its not a right built into your constitution (I'm talking out of the left side of my ass because I have no clue about anything in the Canadian constitution or even if Canada has a constitution). Perhaps get into politics and make a change, get people to agree that the right to bare arms is a God given right and that no government on earth let alone yours to control the people's right to own and bare arms without restriction. If I could change the US constitution that is how I would change it so there is no freaking confusion.
Ive always wanted my own AR since my time in the miltary but could never really afford on until I found one online from badger arms and couldnt beat the price and since owning never a jam or misfeed or any problems at all. My only complaint is the A2 front sight is not coming off unless you have a million ton press to push those taper pines to switch the front gas block but either than that, everything magpul fits perfectly including butt stock, hand grips, trigger guard, magazines, single point sling attachments, etc. If people wanna talk shit about this rifle, I'll happily let them run some rounds through it at the range just to prove you cant tell the difference. For the hobby shooter, save your money and buy norinco...you wont be disappointed. P.S. the NP-22 also runs flawless against my buddys Berretta 92fs
Great Review Rod !!! I have a 10.5 cqa and love it !!!! I use the cheapest ammo, steel,brass etc.. No problems at all... From -20 to +30 it runs perfect... (I use frog lube)...I used norinco mags, magpul, steel B&H and .50 Beowulf.... No problems... I just hope they sell a 7.5 PDW one day !!! Lol
Aw man...now I want one too.... I'm not an AR/.223 fan at all, but getting a good rifle that shoots cheap ammo at a great price is pretty hard to resist.
Marstar sold me one at $650.00. Tax and shipping $717.00 and change. Arrived today, and got her all cleaned and lubed (Not much lube) tonight. I am a collector of old wood stock military rifles, but Bill Blair sent me. I don't want to miss out on a category of firearm, as I dd when the bullshit came about with prohibited class firearms because of Bill C68.
They have these at a local gun store. I contemplate buying one every time i go in, Then i hold one next to a bushmaster and compare and I'm back on the fence again. They seem like decent rifles but the extra $300-$400 for a windham or bushmaster almost seems worth it. But like you said I'm also not being deployed anywhere anytime soon.
One thing you do get when you buy from a company like Bushmaster is a warranty and access to customer support, which are things Norinco cannot provide, being all the way over in China.
Last time I almost buy the 10.5" DA15, but I end up bought the T97. I walked out with my new rifle after I paid, but the DA15 buyer leave with a receipt and waiting for the transfer...anyway, the 10.5" DA15 still on top position of my wish list!
Great review! I've had my CQ for a few years and have been happy with it (haven't shot nearly as many rounds though :D) How are those tapco mags working out?And do you have any preference when it comes to AR mags?
Hozit bro been watching your videos i got a norinco same as yours, but excited for buying my first ar especially after i got my wife a m&p shield. with my norinco after every 2 shots i got a double feed did this for like 100 bullets .223 changed the gas rings and im shooting away
good review. I just ordered a Dominion Arms DA556 but M-16 style with a 20inch barrel. got it for $699 and its non restricted! you should get one too and do a review on it.
Civil Advantage well I made a mistake, it's a restricted rifle. I placed the order but didn't know that and later got email from them. yeah I got restricted license but don't have a gun club membership so I cant get it. sucks. anyway you should get one cause it looks very Vietnam war style. I really like the look of it. go to Canada ammo and check it out.
Yaaaaa, I hope this got cleared up for you before you got into trouble. Most definitely still restricted even with the 20' barrel. AR platform = restricted. I know, super old comment but had to say something.
Civil Advantage, I haven't done my homework and I won't ever be able to get my hands on an Norinco AR 15 so is it possible for clarification, that you might be able to do a video on the actual dimensions to find out what fits mil-spec, what fits commercial-spec and what is Norinco-spec? I think that would be a fun video to watch. I know the dimension of the barrel at the gas block is .750" and the buffer tube is 1.14" for mil spec. I'm not sure about the BCG. Thanks..
I had the pleasure of shooting several Norinco rifles and pistols and they all worked great. I don't understand why people talk shit about Chinese firearms. I'm more of a Russian firearm guy so I do not own any Chinese guns but I would buy them If I had the need and money...maybe my next paycheck.
no, Parkerizing is not spray paint lol.. It's a chemical phosphate coating that keeps steel protected and hold oil well. You're aluminum lowers should be anodized and your bcg should be parkerized if not some other wiz-bang coating will be on it
I have a CQ-A (M4 clone). I purchased it a few couple/few years ago & with standard mag, had NOTHING but PROBLEMS feeding/ejecting; horrible. Soooo, I filed in my own M4-style feed ramps & at the range I shoot at's recommendation, purchased P-Mags. I prefer to run PMC 5.56 mil-spec ammo; seems to run better than Federal. I agree, after trial & error & vids on AR maintenance, that over cleaning an AR is poor form. An American gun friend suggested the Spider (?) buffer being a good upgrade; i am yet to put money into this rifle. It IS parkerized & marks easily. However, the Norinco CQ-A is used by certain Central/South American Armed Forces. It IS a KILLING tool. Mine runs pretty reliably for the money, so long as the charging handle is yanked back & allowed to snap forward: certain female friends I have taken shooting have totally botched this action up, being scared after the initial BOOOOOMMM!! lol Accuracy with iron sights is fine … it WILL KILL! I believe the AR platform has VERY tight tolerances relative to the AK design & hence is more likely to jam/misfeed; certain Mil friends have confirmed even the Canadian Colt-based (?) C7/8 have these issues. Anyway .. these are my humble experiences with this rifle.
Restricted or non-restricted should be the second thing after the name... Now I've watched an excellent video and know everything about it EXCEPT if I can use it in the pasture out back.
About to buy one buy one tomorrow, thanks to your 3 reviews. Thanks for the info, and next payday you've got another CCFR member. Only question I've got... Will they accept different uppers? When mine eventually goes, I want to invest in a piston system upper. I don't know if this is outside your Arcs but if you've got any idea I'd appreciate the advice
Hey i know this an old vid just stumbled on it. Anyway just wanted to say i have a norinco cqa that i have had for about 9 years and has close to 50000 rounds through it. Still runs good, no tight groups though.
Rowdy Roddy. I just got my DA 5.56 last week and love it thus far, but I do want to get some better magazines for it. Do you know of a mag manufacturer that will suit this gun or should all 5.56/223 Rem magazine manufacturers fit this rifle? Thanks for the great videos!
xtremecyclesports Competition keeps them from jacking up their prices. If they raised their prices above the competition they would loose their customers. Gas prices are not jacked up arbitrarily, they're based off of oil prices and taxes. When the price of oil goes up the price of gas goes up. When the price of oil goes down the price of gas goes down. Gas station prices tend to move in lock step because they're basing their prices off of the same factors.
xtremecyclesports Political situations, trade deals and import/export tariffs all affect the availability of, and demand for oil, thereby affecting it's price on the global market. That's not really arbitrary.
xtremecyclesports It affects the ability of suppliers to bring the product to the consumers, and affects the rate at which the product is consumed. That's basic supply and demand in a nut shell. Supply is not just how much of it is out there. There's trillions upon trillions of dollars worth of raw materials in the asteroid belt, but that has zero effect on the market because it's prohibitively expensive to bring it to the consumers. No company can survive without customers. If the company asks outrageous prices for their products an intelligent customer will seek more favourable alternatives, thereby depriving the company of profit. At no point does either party hold the entire balance of power. It comes down to a negotiation between buyer and seller. Markets are far from predatory. Markets provide for mutual benefit. They are by definition cooperative. No reasonably intelligent person will agree to a deal that does not benefit them. Because of this all consenting transactions must be mutually beneficial, or one party will refuse. Truly predatory interactions are those that are predicated on the use of force or fraud.
are there rumors that RCMP wants to ban the norinco cq556 ? did heard they want to ban the tavors,the swiss arms, the norinco 305 and most all of the sks !!! And that worrys me a lot thanks
I just ordered the DA556 and was wondering what your ammo preference was. Seems to be quite a big more options for 223 vs 5.56. The norinco 223 is around 32 cents a round while federal 223/5.56 goes for about 50 cents a round.
Just bought a crate of Norinco ammo, now you got me worried haha. What was the head stamp? CJ 95? how many rounds of it did you go through before noticing problems?
I shot through a crate, zero problems. I moved on to another one, maybe 10 misfires including 3 or 4 primer blowouts. Not sure what the headstamp was, that stuff is long gone. Back to no problems again with the latest 1600 i'm working through.
I was just wondering if we could get a video about carrying a gun in the bush, how its like with hunting season (no hunting license), all I know is non restricted and crown land is a okay which happens to be most of BC. I think you gotta keep it unloaded not sure..
A few questions for you bud, is the forward assist operational? I read somewhere that it's just for show, i'm looking at getting one of these rifles. Hows the machine work? I have a dominion arms coach gun and it's crude but it's pretty solid
The forward assist works. I showed the rifles off at the range tonight to a few people that were interested and they were impressed. One of the guys had an ACR and XCR so he knew what quality looks like.
Thanks for the review!! I'm currently looking forward to buy one of those... little question: do they fire the SS109 5.56x45 NATO or its just better to stick with the .223?
Marco Taranzano there's not much difference between 5.56 and .223 other than penetration power and how hot the round is. I'd say you're better off just getting a .223
Thanks for the revue , do the 10 round pistol mags fit in it? And what brand of mags would you suggest , I am going down to buy one of these, there is 2 at my local gun shop
Luc Doucet I might be mistaken but I'm not aware of any Norinco semiauto centerfire rifles that are nonrestricted. Maybe check out the Robinson Armaments XCR rifles which are nonrestricted semiauto centerfire rifles in the same caliber. Unfortunately they are about three thousand dollars new.
GREAT QUESTION. I've used the following parts on/in the CQA: Daniel Defense BCG Hoage Griip Mags: Magpul, Tapco, D&H Aim Sports quad rail Ultimate Arms Group quad rail Magpul Moe Forend
Hey Rod, I noticted you mentioned in your video about buying high quality American made AR's for competitive prices. In the video you say that If you could purchase a Smith & Wesson M&P 15 for $700 in Canada you would have two. Here's a link to many options in that price range if this peaks future interest! www.irunguns.ca/store/rifles-for-sale-canada?sort=p.price&order=ASC&page=4
one question, lets say i buy this gun with a 16 inch barrel, I know its restricted so for now it doesnt really matter, but if the ar15 petition is passed and the ar15 got reclassified to non-restricted, will the 16 inch barrel makes it stay restricted?
Moto_rider The other answers are correct. You can have semiauto only AR15's with a restricted PAL. Sadly all true assault rifles (meaning they have a select fire switch allowing them to switch from semiauto to automatic/full-auto) are prohibited.
Because he is in Canada. And they are all illegal because Norinco was caught selling full auto AKMs and RPG-7s to street gang trash in an effort to undermine American law and order.
